by Dan Wolken, USA TODAY Sports

by Dan Wolken, USA TODAY Sports

AUSTIN - The game should have long since been decided, but nothing at the University of Texas is going to happen this season without some sort of drama attached.

And so when Kansas State's Tramaine Thompson came racing down the sideline with 90 seconds left, aided by a few questionable blocks before ultimately being chased down at Texas' 11-yard line, a sense of dread permeated throughout Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Moments earlier, the Longhorns had been comfortably ahead by three scores, cruising toward a feel-good victory that would â?? for the moment, anyway â?? help push back the negativity that has been swirling around Mack Brown's program all season. Instead, here they were just hanging on, with Brown berating the officiating crew for a missed call and Texas' injury-depleted defense trying to regroup for one more stop.

Finally, as the Longhorns escaped the final minute with a 31-21 victory, Brown gathered with the team near the South end zone and hugged university president Bill Powers like he had won the national championship.

In many ways, it was an unusual scene for any 2-2 team, much less at Texas against a team that will struggle to make a bowl game. But given what was at stake Saturday, any kind of win against any kind of opponent was worth celebrating.

"This is a start, this isn't the end and we had to get this game tonight," Brown said. "We had to get back on the right track."

Though Saturday's performance raised some concerns for Texas long-term â?? quarterback David Ash was held out of the second half because of a head injury and linebacker Jordan Hicks left in the third quarter because of a sprained ankle, adding to an already long injury report â?? it was a moment for the Longhorns to transcend the overwhelming negativity that has marked Brown's 16th season.

The high hopes Brown had for this team, which returned more starters than anyone in the country, were all but ruined by Week 2 with a miserable performance at BYU. Then, after firing defensive coordinator Manny Diaz and replacing him with Greg Robinson, things didn't seem much better last week in a 44-23 loss to Ole Miss.

Brown's only remaining salvation was the Big 12 and the promise he'd keep working, keep fighting to get things fixed. That's why Saturday meant so much. A loss to Kansas State, which had beaten Texas five straight times, and that faÃ§ade would've gone away, too.

"We weren't desperate," running back Johnathan Gray said. "You never want to go 1-2, but we put it in our minds we had to hit them in the mouth and prove a point."

Amidst all that, this week brought the revelation that two Texas regents had spoken with Jimmy Sexton, the agent for Alabama coach Nick Saban, after the national championship game in January about whether he would be interested in replacing Brown if Brown were willing to retire. The regent who leaked that information to the Associated Press, Wallace Hall, is facing a possible impeachment hearing in the state legislature over accusations that he has abused his office.

It was an episode that once again highlighted the warring factions within the University of Texas during this time of athletic crisis. Despite the calls for Brown to retire, he appears to have the support of Powers and athletics director DeLoss Dodds and will have every opportunity to turn this season around.

But that won't stop the soap opera at Texas, especially at a time when rival Texas A&M is enjoying its most significant period of success in decades and the Longhorns are now into their fourth consecutive season outside the national elite.

"I told those guys, handle it any way you want to, but beat Kansas State," Brown said. "The rest of it doesn't matter. If it bothers you, don't look at it. If you enjoy drama, look at it. It's up to you. I'm doing everything I can do to beat Kansas State."

It didn't appear that would be a problem early Saturday. The Longhorns built a 17-0 lead late in the second quarter, then extended the advantage to 24-7 on the first possession of the second half after Brown called for a successful fake punt that resulted in a 19-yard gain.

The Longhorns finally got a huge game from Gray, who finished with 141 yards on 28 carries and scored a touchdown with 9:11 remaining that made it 31-14. They also got a mistake-free second half from backup quarterback Case McCoy, who struggled in last week's home loss to Ole Miss. McCoy was pressed into action when Ash, who suffered a concussion in Texas' loss to BYU on Sept. 7, was ruled out of the second half.

Brown said Ash, who threw for 166 yards and a touchdown in the first half, had to be held out due to concussion protocol because he "had symptoms at halftime."

"Our team fought hard," McCoy said. "(The coaches) put us in good situations the last couple weeks. It kind of came down to us fighting and executing, honestly. All the naysayers and everything outside, we came to Texas for a reason. I've been around this program. I know that's how it goes. You have to put that aside and understand what really matters and that's where my mind was."

Texas' much-maligned defense showed some signs of improvement in the second week under Robinson, holding Kansas State to 115 rushing yards while missing fewer tackles and playing with more aggression and ferocity.

As the shaky final few minutes showed, however, Texas' margin for error still isn't great. Even on a night when the Longhorns played well and were plus-3 in the turnover category, they were hanging on for dear life at the end. But in a season that might have veered permanently off course with a loss, this was still something to feel good about. There may ultimately be consequences for the way Texas has played this season, but they haven't arrived yet.

"There were parts of the team I expected to see and expect to see for the rest of the year," Brown said. "This can be a really good football team. I don't think this team will let up. We need to get (healthy), but there are no excuses. Just keep your mouth shut and go play. We need to win."